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Editorial Reviews

Harvey Keitel plays Charlie, working his way up the ranks of a local mob. Amy Robinson is Teresa, the girlfriend his family deems unsuitable because of her epilepsy. And in the starmaking role that won Best Supporting Actor Awards from the New York and National Society of FIlm Critics, De Niro is Johnny Boy, a small-time gambler in big-time debt to loan sharks. This is a story Martin Scorsese lived, a semi-biographical tale of the first-generation sons and daughters of New York's Little Italy.

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Martin Scorsese's early film "Mean Streets" (1973) tells a story of religious redemption and of loyalty set in the criminal world of New York City's Lower East Side in the 1960s. The movie featured brilliant acting debuts by its two main characters, Robert DeNiro (Johnny Boy) and Harvey Keitel (Charlie), both of whom played leading roles in later Scorsese films.

The movie has a thin plot, or tangle of thin plots. Charlie is a young, rising petty criminal in the Mafia who has strong Catholic convictions together with guilt about his apparent path in life. He is a faithful friend of another young man, Johnny Boy, headstrong, selfish, impulsive, and half-crazy. Johnny Boy is deeply in debt to another rising and menacing young criminal, Michael (Richard Romanus). At great risk to himself, Charlie tries to help out Johnny Boy. Charlie is also involved with a young epileptic woman, Teresa, (Amy Robinson) related to Johnny Boy. Charlie's boss, his uncle and a higher figure in the criminal ranks, Giovanni, (Cesare Danova) warns his young protege to steer clear of both Johnny Boy and Teresa. The film builds to a violent ephiphany of a conclusion which reminded me of the ending of Henry Roth's novel, "Call it Sleep".

The film is difficult to follow for viewers with the expectation of a linear, straightforward story. The movie rewards more than one viewing, as I took the opportunity to do through Amazon's rental program. With careful viewing, the film has a powerful, cumulative impact.

"Mean Streets" is set in the bars, restaurants, go-go clubs, apartments, and, in particular, the streets of Little Italy. Most of the action takes place at night. The movie is improvisatory and episodic. It consists of a number of small, carefully developed vignettes which at first may seem unconnected to one another. The different themes develop slowly and indirectly. The religious themes are suggested throughout as the movie explores Charlie's tormented character. Each individual scene has a great deal of tension and atmosphere, as the characters alternate between cameraderie and barely suppressed violence in the unforgiving world of Little Italy. The cinematography and lighting add immeasurably in defining the action and were unusual for their time. The movie includes an insightfully appropriate musical score consisting largely of doo-wop songs from girl groups of the early 1960's.

The film offers a rough, raw picture of streets and of crime, combined with a hovering feeling of religious grace. Scorsese explored these themes in many subsequent movies. "Mean Streets" stands on its own without needing comparison to his latter efforts. "Mean Streets" is a tough, suggestive film for viewers with a passion for exploring the meaning of American urban life.

Although he had completed a few pictures prior to this, Mean Streets really serves as Martin Scorcese's introduction to U.S. film. And it is an extraordinary movie. The acting of Robert de Niro and Harvey Keitel in particular is amazing. These are the streets Scorcese grew up on, and his familiarity encourages a confidence with the camera and with the soundtrack--which is amazing. Mean Streets grapples with profound issues such as loyalty, friendship, and ambition. With a great script it introduces viewers to a group of young men in an Italian-American community, and we get to know these friends and enemies in all of their idiosyncratic truth. There is an energy of urgency on screen, young men on the make, and Mean Streets captures both the essentials and nuances. Also: how important respect is and what happens when one young man feels he has lost it.

If you can't get enough of Scorsese of Italian tough guy films then this is the movie for you. It's the movie that established the Italian-American Machismo character in cinema. It's beautifully shot, has a great soundtrack, which most of the budget went to. Scorsese used his own records and had to secure the rights. It's semi-autobiographical, and It's a classic for a reason. 10/10

WARNERs' mid-1980s series of videotapes were expensively priced but very well made compared to the last VHS generation of the early 2000s. Tapes are stored in durable oversized plastic clamshells, and are full screen dubbed at SP speed. Some, such as MEAN STREETS or LOST IN AMERICA, have a HiFi audio track. Far superior in audio clarity to pre-1985 linear-only tapes, the stereo sound and dynamic range of HiFi can only be heard on a compatible VCR patched to a good amplifier or receiver that's connected to efficient speakers, a set up (in VHS or DVD) that over the years has acquired the name: "home theater."

Borrowed money from Francis Coppola helped writer/director Martin Scorsese complete MEAN STREETS. Filmed in part on location in NYC's Little Italy, Scorsese shot some scenes in the places he knew as a boy: a buddy's apartment house hallway, the graveyard of old St. Patrick's Cathedral, etc. In only his third motion picture, one that at first glance seems plotless, Scorsese demonstrates a cinematic mastery far beyond his actual experience, also a prodigious talent for capturing real life.

Here, for reasons only he understands, Charlie (Keitel) remains pals with Johnny Boy (De Niro), even though crazy Johnny is fiscally irresponsible to the point where his well-being in endangered by the gangsters he owes "two-large" to. Charlie has also become romantically involved with Johnny's cousin Teresa (Robinson). Her epilepsy is a major concern to Charlie's uncle Giovanni (Danova), a caporegime that Charlie collects debts for.

Charlie's devotion to the Catholic church conflicts with his desire to advance in the Mob, and having Uncle Giovanni angry toward him for his friendship with both Johnny and Teresa isn't helping matters. Patterning himself after St. Francis, Charlie's mission is to "save" Johnny while continuing to see Teresa on the QT, so when Johnny insults and pulls a pistol on the loanshark he's been stringing along for weeks, Charlie unwisely chooses to flee the neighborhood with a now marked man. Teresa insists on coming along. The three head for Brooklyn in a borrowed car, unaware that the out-for-revenge thug is tailing them...

Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 IMDb viewer poll rating.

This movie is a classic. it brought me back to my youth like most of us seniors that have seen it. a young DiDe Niro is excellent and Harvey Kietel is brilliant as he always is. The movie came in great shape. No scratches or marks even on the jacket. The only complaint I have is that the price of shipping is extravagant compared to the price of the movie. obviously, the shipper is making more then the price of the movie